Ashley Catchem
by Tsurishi Arashi
Summary: Ash and his sister Ashley were raised seperatly from each other, but when it comes time to choose a Pokémon they find themselves meeting up and heading out on an adventure together.
1. Prolog

_Disclaimer – I do not own Pokemon. This is an AU where Ash has a twin sister._

**Ashley Catchem  
****Prolog**

Have you ever wanted to go on an adventure simply to get away from the stifling everything that made up your life? Have you ever thought that there was a world outside that you wished to go and explore and find more about, but people were keeping you from discovering it? Have you ever been so sheltered that you wondered what the truth about your own life was about but the one relative that you happened to know simply wouldn't give you the answers you wanted because they were simply way to protective and not understanding the fact you were growing up?

There comes a time in ones life when one has to make their own decisions and get out and see the world. There has to be a trigger though when one is confined to a place that you rarely saw anyone or anything apart from the occasional Pokémon that happened to travel through the secluded place. The truth was Ashley was in such a situation and didn't know that she was in fact missing anything in life and would watch as these purple rats that she didn't know the name of would wander onto the grounds for Pallet Town's shrine.

The place honestly seemed forgotten and rarely did Ashley see a patron appear in front of her grandmother looking for their prayers to be answered. Nobody believed in shrine gods anymore and that was likely because so much knowledge had been gleaned about how the Pokémon once worshiped as Gods simply were these really powerful creatures that were rare. Her grandmother told Ashley though that there would be repercussions if the people didn't come back and worship the shrine god, but from the distance the girl had over heard the conversation that there was no god.

As the future shrine maiden for the place Ashley lived by her grandmother's rules. She was to speak to no stranger and she was to seek only to please the Pokémon who took care of Pallet Town despite the fact she knew full well none of the people in the town came to worship. She also wasn't to pass the shrine boundaries as nothing good would come of her leaving the place. The place was sacred as was she as the shrine maiden and thus she remained sweeping the steps in her miko outfit while she waited for something to happen. The only companions she had were purple rats and small birds that flew and perched on the roof.

None of them spoke to her, but she had come to know a particular creature that in fact acted as a friend to her and spoke to her through the mind. From the description her grandmother had given her of the shrine god she had the feeling that this was it, except this creature was in fact female and should instead be called a Goddess. The creature was a soft pink with pointed ears and a long tail. About every month or so it would come along and give very vague descriptions of the outside world. The conversations weren't enough to wet her appetite. She didn't mention the creature to her grandmother as she feared her grandmother would abuse its appearance as a reason to bring up the shrine to the old standards her grandmother remembered from when she was a girl.

Her grandmother had not been lucky enough to ever see the creature, something her grandmother said was a blessing to young females before they were married. Sometimes she heard her grandmother mutter about how Ashley's mother had been lucky enough to see it but blew the luck she had by having her child out of wedlock, whatever that meant. She just knew that her mother and grandmother rarely if ever spoke and that her grandmother had fought to have custody of her because her mother was a single mother and had problems. It was a subject that didn't get talked about.

Yet for some reason she knew that there was an outside world waiting for her just as much as she was sure there was something waiting for her other then being the next shrine maiden. If her mother had been the shrine maiden before her and had left and chosen to do something else, then why couldn't she in fact choose to do something else with her life other then being stuck in one spot, becoming bored with the fact nothing ever really happened. Not to mention nobody came to visit the shrine and that meant they really didn't have any reason to practice being mikos anymore.

Of course, her grandmother said that the time when the god would seek its revenge on Pallet Town would eventually come and that she would in fact be needed was the one thing that was keeping her there. But the more she spoke with the pink thing the more she came to think it didn't care about being worshiped. It simply wanted a playmate as much as she did. And then there was the fact it pitied her for being locked up withing the boundaries of the shrine not knowing what an amazing world the outside was, nor how many other _kinds_ there were other then itself and the purple rats and small birds.

If Ashley took one step across the borders though, her grandmother somehow happened to know. It was almost as if the woman had something watching her. The creature that befriended her said it was another one of those creatures that was trained to watch her and keep her protected. Thus she didn't even try to leave despite the fact she wanted to. That, and the outside world was rather in a way scary. What Ashley didn't expect though was for her world to be turned upside down suddenly. Not to mention the fact that her world would change and she would get to go on that adventure she so dreamed of. Among other things.


	2. Meeting the Outside World

**Ashley Catchem  
****Chapter 1:  
**_**(Meeting the Outside World)**_

Gary Oak followed his sister up the rocky path not knowing where she was taking him. A mask was over his mouth from the summer cold he was still trying to get over no thanks to the antics of one Ash Catchem. The two boys had been friends for as long as he could remember and there was not a time that he couldn't remember Ash not getting the two of them in trouble. He coughed slightly, hoping that this cold would not prevent him from starting out on his own journey in a couple of weeks.

The boy glared out at the ocean, his boredom from having been cooped up inside having reached its peak when he could have been outside watching the Pokémon that stayed at his grandfather's lab if it weren't for Ash scaring a poor Rattata and causing it to end up in the shallow part of the river, which made both boys try and rescue the poor thing. Everyone talked about how Ash and Professor Oak's grandson happened to rescue the Pokémon, which made him feel even more resentment to his supposed friend. Not to mention he had also read all the books in the house, which had stayed off his boredom for a couple of days.

There was now talk that he possibly wouldn't be going on his Pokémon journey simply because he happened to be as sick as he was. The times that the village remembered that he had a name was when he happened to be a cute little kid, something he was honestly growing out of despite the fact they didn't realize it. Because of this, Ash had negated his promise to travel with him, which had caused a big argument between the two about the fact Gary had planned on traveling on his own anyways because Ash was an idiot.

"_I didn't mean to say what I did, but he wasn't being very nice when he said he wouldn't travel with me. I'm not stupid enough to believe that it is safe for anyone to travel alone on their journey. It isn't as if I could pair up with the other two who are getting their Pokémon that day either as they think I'm as stuck up as Ash is stupid. And that is saying a lot._"

"Gary?" The girl spoke up, causing him to startle. He turned his head to look at her, frowning. "Are you all right? I've noticed that you haven't been hanging out with Ash of late."

"That's because Ash is an idiot." He glanced back at the ocean. "If someone made a promise to travel with you, would you wait until they could actually start their journey too?"

"I think it depends." Daisy spoke up, glancing back at her brother, who was in a rather dark mood. "If the person was supposed to be getting the Pokémon at a different time then me, then the answer would be no."

"Do you think I really care?" Gary let out a deep sigh. "I'm always being compared to you and grandpa and everyone refers to me as your guys relative. It is painful. And I may not be able to get my Pokémon until after everyone else does if I am still sick. Speaking of which, are you sure you're all right with taking me out of the house like this. Grandfather is sure to be furious that you're doing this."

"Then don't tell him and neither one of us will get in trouble. Plus, I figured you would need to get out of the house as you were moping around and being depressed about the whole thing will only make you even more sick."

"But why bring me here, up into the mountains?" The boy glanced back at the ocean again, wishing that he was well and that his journey was going to start today so he could just get away from this place.

"My question is, have you decided upon what Pokémon you wish to start with?"

"I'm debating between a Squirtle and a Bulbasaur as they are both effective against the first gym. A Bulbasaur would be effective against the second gym and I wouldn't have to worry about weaknesses when it came to the Pokémon. Squirtle on the other hand is really only good against the first gym, but I could possibly catch other Pokémon while I traveled. I just wish..."

"That you had a traveling partner." Daisy let out a deep sigh.

"I wish you were home more then you are. You're always traveling and I'm not even sure what you do, yet you've made a name for yourself."

"Not really." The female let out a deep sigh. The arrived at a set of stairs and Gary glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know that Pallet Town had a shrine." The boy blinked a couple of times.

"Would you like to make a wish that you will have a healthy and safe journey?" Daisy smiled at her younger brother.

"I might as well. I could use any kind of luck I can get." The began to walk up the stairs, taking a break every so often so that Gary could rest and not feel like his breath was burning his lungs. Eventually they made it to the top and they found themselves looking at a beautiful shrine that was worn around the edges but well taken care of.

Stepping forward the two headed towards the wooden grate and they tossed their coins in. Gary took a deep breath and spoke his prayer out loud. "Please let me be able to make the Pokémon journey. Actually, let me have someone to travel with as well other then just my Pokémon."

That seemed like it, but Daisy suddenly grabbed his sleeve and pulled him over to a small shop where a woman was sitting. Something felt familiar about the old woman but Gary couldn't place it. "I here you sell talismans?"

"What kind of talisman are you looking for?"

"I am looking for a talisman so that my brother can have a safe Pokémon journey."

"Its been awhile since we've had that requested. It is almost as if they've forgotten that ever since you came here with your starter Pokémon six years ago. It is Daisy Oak, correct? I'm surprised that you haven't had a sibling here sooner."

"Daisy is six years older then me, so there is a six year age gap." Gary watched as the woman gave him a strange look, before shaking her head and handing him the tag.

"Since this is for you, you should take this to the clearing. Just follow the path behind the shrine and when you come to a big rock ask what you really desire and it will happen." The woman stated. "At least someone is still coming, which is more then what I could expect. I'm surprised her son isn't here, but then I would rather that monster not come."

"Ash?" Gary blinked a couple of times. The woman greeted him with silence and Daisy simply hauled him to the clearing.

Ashley had been sweeping out the inner shrine when the boy showed up with his sister. She glanced out of the room and saw a rather pretty female. The girls hair was a pretty brownish gold curl and her eyes were a pretty green. The boy's hair was a darker color, while is eyes were a dark hazel. She remained silent as she listened in on the conversation and she wondered why the boy was wearing a mask.

"Please let me be able to make the Pokémon journey. Actually, let me have someone to travel with as well other then just my Pokémon."

Ashley found herself blinking a couple of times. "_A Pokémon journey? I didn't know you could go on a Pokémon journey. I've always wanted to get away from here and travel._"

They then headed over to her grandmother and she missed part of the conversation. Letting out a deep sigh, she hung back until she saw them head back towards the clearing, a place even her grandmother rarely went. She decided to take the short cut and found herself peering out at the clearing, wondering why they were in fact there. The boy held up the trinket, frowning at it as he did so. "How is this supposed to help me Daisy?"

"What is it that you really wish for?"

"I want a safe journey, a traveling partner, a chance to go on the journey. Perhaps even the chance to make some friends."

"You say that as if you don't have any friends." The girl let out a deep sigh.

"Well, I don't have any friends. Ash doesn't count as he just follows me around and uses me as a wall between him and the other kids. I'm the one having to step between him and fist fights."

"Kids that age will be mean."

"There are only four kids my age who are going to head on this journey and there are only four kids who happen to be in our class, all of us boys. The younger kids don't look up to us because or grade is when everyone goes and makes their journeys and the next grade doesn't tend to come back until they've moved onto the upper schooling. Everyone is moving away from here and Pallet Town is becoming more and more rural."

"But I thought you liked that?"

Gary let out a deep sigh. "Do I like that? In some ways I do, but it is rather lonely when your only form of intelligent conversation is a boy who really should be in a much lower grade. Even the younger kids know this and they don't come near me because of him."

"There are more kids in the other grades I've heard."

"At most, there are six to ten kids depending on the year." Gary shook his head at his sister. "We should be going now. And anyways, making new friends is important as Ash has decided to abandon me when it comes to traveling together, so I really can't call him a friend either."

The boy walked away with the girl and Ashley found herself coming out of the clearing. The small pink thing flew down. "_You should go with him._"

"Grandma wouldn't let me."

"_We could plan it so it was fate that meant for you to go. I could show up and divine that a journey needs to be made._"

"I guess that would work, as you are supposed to be the shrine deity." The girl turned to head back to the shrine and finish sweeping, wondering how her little friend would handle the situation.

_NOTES – I am not using one specific canon, but all three to come up with my storyline._

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	3. Leave it to Fate

**Ashley Catchem  
****Chapter 2  
**_**(Leave it to Fate)**_

The suggestion by her small friend to stage a prophesy in order to trick her grandmother into believing that she should head out on a journey was a good one, but she honestly didn't know how they would end up pulling it off. The woman may have been a superstitious old lady, but she was also a woman who took pride in not being easily fooled. Time was necessary for them to make the plan, but there was also the fact that both realized that they may not have the time they wanted to succeed.

Ashley found herself lying down on her futon while her small friend sneaked in through the open window and settled down next to her. "So... what are we going to do?"

"_I'll think of something._" The Pokémon let out a deep sigh before heading out the window so that Ashley's Grandmother wouldn't catch the creature and begin making early prophesies. The pink flying cat paused and looked back at Ashley. "_That said... we should be wary of the other legendaries I've heard that some have been traveling from other regions into our territory. Its almost as if they are seeking something._"

"I've heard that there are only one of these legendaries, but you tell me that there is actually more then one."

"_Most of the legendaries I've spoken with have referred to being the last of their kind._" The pink creature then disappeared from her site. She fell asleep and awoke with the sunlight streaming into the window and she sat up and got dressed in her shrine maiden outfit and went about cleaning the shrine. As she worked, she couldn't help but notice that her grandmother wasn't up and moving about.

Her friend suddenly flew down near her head. "_I've got the perfect idea to convince her. Why don't we find her so we can present our fake prophesy to her?_"

Ashley packed up her items and headed to the small shop. Upon seeing that her grandmother wasn't there, she headed to the shrine and then her grandmothers room. For some strange reason her grandmother was still asleep and she tried nudging the woman to wake her up. The woman was breathing but in fact not moving. The small pink cat like creature appeared above her head. "_Something is wrong Ashley..._"

"What am I supposed to do?" The girl spoke out loud.

"_You need to go and get help._"

"I don't have permission to leave."

"_If you don't leave, then your grandmother will die._"

Letting out a deep sigh, Ashley stood up and hurried to the front gate of the shrine and then down the stone steps. She could sense that her small friend was following her but keeping out of site. The path in front of the steps was secluded and it looked as if it was rarely if ever walked upon, as the grass and weeds were beginning to over take the path.

Glancing around at the new sight, she saw many buildings down in the valley and thus she made the decision to take the path that went down hill. She hurried along, noticing that every so often that the path would go up a bit, but it steadily kept going down. Finally, she came to a group of rice paddies and she had no idea where to go from there.

Glancing around, she noticed a few workers and quickly hurried over to one of them. The man glanced up, frowning as he did so. "Are you a traveling miko? I haven't seen you around."

"My grandmother... she's not well and needs some help." The girl stated.

"Where is your grandmother?" the man asked.

"She and I live up at the shrine in the hilly area." The girl watched as the man gave her a surprised look.

"Really? But that would mean you're..." The man paused, before taking off and heading towards town. "Follow me. There are no telephones out here, but I can get you to the police station." The man stated as she followed the man along.

A woman in a blue suit stepped out. "What seems to be the problem?"

"The old lady up in the shrine is in need of some medical attention. This is her granddaughter."

The woman headed into the place and used the phone, dialing the numbers. She then came out. "The doctor is heading up to the shrine right now."

Ashley sat in a chair, worry written all over her face. The woman picked up the phone when it rang and then set it back down. "Your grandmother is being sent to the hospital in Viridian, but she'll be all right. She won't be able to come out of the hospital for a month or two, so the question of what is going to happen to you comes up."

"Don't worry, I can take care of the shrine by myself." Ashley spoke up.

"Well, that is out of the question." The man shook his head. "That shrine is so old it would take the entire village to bring it up to a decent standard. I'm surprised the old woman was living up there still, considering the fact it is secluded compared to other shrines in other towns. Though there are some older buildings up in the hills that were made when this town was first made. It's come to be more and more spread out towards livable land rather then rural area, so the shrine isn't the center of the town anymore."

"But that shrine is important!" Ashley bemoaned.

"To your grandmother only. I'm not saying the place doesn't have its historical significance, but the gods that most people set shrines up around just don't exist. Or they're based around Pokémon that really aren't gods. Somewhere in this region there is a shrine that was made for a Ninetails. Exotic and beautiful Pokémon, but it is in no way a god. They were built before superstitions were countered by actual science."

"The question comes as to what we are going to do with you. Do you have any other family or know anybody else in the village."

"I only know of the Oak family." Ashley stated as she knew little to nothing about her mother. The woman could be dead for all she knew.

"I'll call Professor Oak. He's always willing to lend a helping hand." The officer picked up the phone and made another call. She then hung up the phone. "Professor Oak's granddaughter Daisy will be here to pick you up to take you to their family home."

Ashley remained sitting, her sandal clad feet crossed at the ankle. As she was sitting there, the girl she saw yesterday peeked her head in through the door. "Hello, I am Daisy Oak. What might your name be?"

"Ashley Catchem..."

The officer raised an eyebrow suddenly. "So, she's related to Delia? How come she didn't bring that up?"

"Everyone knows the old lady on the hill and Delia are related, so you honestly should have thought about that before contacting us. Grandfather and I will handle the situation for now and we'll get in touch with her and let her know that Ashley is staying with us."

"Wouldn't Delia want her to come and stay with her. Now that I think about it, she rather looks like him and seems to be around the same age." The woman officer looked at Ashley, frowning as she did so.

"We'll see what Delia wants to do when we call her. She may want her to stay at our house due to the fact her son is known for leaving the house a mess and knowing Delia she would want to make Ashley as comfortable as possible." The young lady touched Ashley's shoulder and they headed back towards the house that the Oak family lived in.

Upon stepping into the house, Ashley found the boy she met yesterday lying on the couch reading a book. He glanced up upon seeing her and placed a bookmark into the book. "Who is she?"

"She is the granddaughter of the old lady at the shrine that we met yesterday." Daisy stepped into the room. "I'll be calling Ash's mom now."

"What ever for?" Gary let out a deep sigh. "Never mind. I am going to my room before he gets here, because calling his mom is pretty much an invitation for him to show up."

The boy disappeared upstairs and Daisy motioned for Ashley to take a seat where Gary used to be sitting.


	4. Meeting Ash

**Ashley Catchem  
****Chapter 4  
**_**(Meeting Ash)**_

After Ashley sat down, After speaking on the phone for a few minutes, Daisy went over to the kitchen and began to make something for the girl to eat. She soon brought it over and then headed up stairs to get her brother. While she was gone, the doorbell suddenly rang and Ashley found herself blinking a couple of times as she had never heard a doorbell before. She waited at the table for Daisy to get home, only to hear the door click open.

A young man wearing a baseball cap came into the room and looked at the table and the food. Before anyone could say anything, he grabbed a plate and began to scoop food onto his plate. He didn't see to notice Ashley as she was watching his rude behavior. She took a deep breath before speaking up. "Who are you?"

The boy glanced up and stared at her, some of the spaghetti noodles sticking out of his mouth. "Who are you? You're kind of hot."

"I..." The female found herself interrupted by Gary and Daisy coming back down the stairs. Gary hit the boy on the top of his head.

"Seriously, get out of my family's house." The boy glared at the boy.

"What about her?" The boy glanced at Ashley and pointed his fork at the girl.

"She is a house guest. You are not. You are an intruder Ash."

"Oh... your name is similar to mine." Ashley spoke up. "Mine is Ashley."

"You're rather cute."

"Get out of here!" Gary suddenly grabbed the boy by the collar of his.

"I have one of your families dinner plates."

"You can return it latter." The young man snapped. The door slammed shut and Gary came back in and sat at the table. "Where is grandfather? If he was home we could lock the door so that Ash couldn't come in like he wants to."

"Grandpa wouldn't like it. He doesn't mind Ash eating food at our place."

"I do... he eats all the food. In a couple of days we're going to be picking out our Pokémon and things honestly aren't going to go the way that they are supposed to. I hate to say it, but I don't trust him to hold up on his end of the promise for us to journey with each other, so why should I."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better actually." Gary stated.

"So then just go with him."

"We haven't been getting along lately. He's been more focused on... certain things."

"Like..."

"You saw it when he was here. He was ogling... what is your name?" Gary paused, realizing that he hadn't caught the girls name.

"My name is Ashley Catchem."

Gary took a deep breath, realization dawning on him. "Great. His behavior is worse then I thought. Oh never mind, I'm just going to eat my dinner."

"Who is he?" Ashley blinked a couple of times.

"He's our next door neighbor and my supposed childhood friend."

"That's nice. I really didn't ever have any friends growing up. I grew up at the shrine with my grandmother."

"What about your mother and father?"

"I haven't ever heard anything about my father, but my grandmother was disappointed that my mother took off and never returned to the shrine. That's why she never wanted me to leave, but since she had a heart attack I had to go and get help. I honestly hope she is all right. I hope me wishing that I could see the outside world didn't make it so she got sick."

"I don't think it did." Daisy smiled at her.

"Are you going to get a starter Pokémon as well?" Gary asked. "I mean, you seem to be Ash and my age."

"A Pokémon?"

"They're this creature that happens to be... how to put it, they're animals and you battle and compeat with them and try to find a lot of them." The young man shook his head in disbelief. Dinner was finished in silence and Ashley went up stairs with Daisy. The girl went digging through her closet.

"I've got some pajamas for you. We'll go shopping for new clothing for you tomorrow."

"I'm fine with my shrine maiden outfit though." Ashley picked up her sleeve. "Of course... I also noticed that other people don't wear this kind of outfit."

"For normal day life it's not a good idea to wear it, but for your shrine maiden duties it is expected." Daisy spoke up. "The shrine really needs to be fixed up though. I think I'll get the village to start giving a hand to get it fixed up for when your grandmother gets back."

"But what about myself?"

"Don't you want to go on a Pokémon journey?" Daisy asked. "If you go you can see the world like you want to."

"I honestly don't know. I mean, I happen to have no idea what a Pokémon is. Your brother's explanation wasn't a very good one."

"Have you ever seen any creatures at the shrine?"

"Ahh... I did in fact see these purple rat like creatures."

"Those are Rattata. Here, let me show you some pictures. I've got an entire data book that details the ones that are known. There are a hundred forty-nine in this book my grandfather created." Daisy then began to give her a nice lesson about the various Pokémon and a few other aspect.

Ashley blinked a couple of times."They are so cool."

Daisy pointed out three. The girl spoke up. "These are the three that you normally get to pick out for starters."

"Yeah... but there are only a couple of days until they pick them out."

"My grandfather knows how to work some pretty major stuff. You may not get one of these three but you can in fact get a starter that is a different one if you want. He's got a lot of Pokémon. We should be getting to bed now so that we can get up in the morning."


	5. Pokemon Dream

**Ashley Catchem ****Chapter 5**_**(Pokémon Dreams)**_

Ashley looked at the book for a few more minutes before closing it with a sigh. She climbed into the trundle bed that Daisy had so kindly set up for her to stay in and looked up at the ceiling as she pulled her sheets up to her chin. She found herself wishing she were at home at first, but found that she really didn't mind being on an adventure like she was. Closing her eyes, she thought to herself, "_Why can't I go on my own Pokémon adventure?_"

She drifted off to sleep and found herself sitting in a field with grass that came up to her waist and buried her where she was kneeling down. She wore a blue dress with a white apron and her hair was pulled up into a black head ban. She crawled through the grass until she came to a place where the grass was pushed down and a blanket was spread out on the ground. She blinked a couple of times before hurrying over to the blanket and looking at all of the cakes and teas. Many of the treats she had never seen before or even thought to exist.

She found herself picking up a cake to try, but then found herself being lectured. "You shouldn't pick up stuff that doesn't belong to you."

She turned to see her little pink friend peeking out at her and she found herself frowning. "But it is just here.

"But it is our treats." She turned and blinked twice as she saw a green Bulbasaur wearing a top hat sitting near her.

"May I join you?" She asked, frowning. "Am I actually welcome?"

"I don't know... are you one of our friends and were you invited?" A Charmander picked up a cup of tea and began to drink it. "Did you get the invite to become one of our trainers?"

"Better yet..." A Squirtle with sunglasses raised a hand in salute to her. "Did your granny give you permission to go."

"Yes, yes... you need to be taking care of the shrine. Who will take care of the shrine while you are gone. It is already falling apart and is in great disrepair." Bulbasaur shook his head. "I wouldn't want to have a trainer who didn't have decent head on her shoulders. "Nope, you have no common sense to fix something that you should just be able to."

"So fix it." Charmander yawned. "Of course, you'll have missed the cut off date and you won't be able to sign up for another year and it will depend on how many other trainers are going to be coming through searching for their own Pokémon. Why take away one of us from a trainer who waited for their coming of age, only to have it ripped away by some child who couldn't get their act together."

"Now that is mean." Ashley's little pink friend spoke up as it fully came out of the tea cup. "Really, you must be much nicer to Ms. Ashley. It isn't her fault she didn't know until now. I think she should have the chance to have an adventure just like any other child. I mean, just because her grandmother refused to tell her about such important things as Pokémon should be no fault of hers."

"Yes... but waters wet, rocks are hard and life is not fare." The squirtle shook his head. "We really shouldn't be talking about what ifs. Does she really think that professor Oak will be able to to get her a Pokémon with such limited time? And even if he does it will likely be just a purple Rattata."

Ashley glanced away. "I think having a Rattata would be better then having nothing. I've never been out of the shrine before, and I honestly like having the freedom."

"The go for it!" Her pink friend cheered. It was then that she saw a flash of tan and she got up and hurried after the creature, following it through the grass with the pink friend following close behind.

"I wonder what that was?" Ashley frowned as she continued down the path.

"What, what was?" Her pink friend shook its head. "I didn't see anything. Or are you trying to go down a rabbit hole or something?"

Ashley continued down the path, frowning as she did so. She suddenly found herself heading into a dark forest and staring up at a crescent moon, frowning as she did so. "I know that there was something there, but..." She blinked a couple of times. "Where did she go?"

Letting out a deep sigh she headed deeper in, tearing her dress on some thorn brackets. She finally caught sight of a fox tail and reached for it only for it to disappear. A voice spoke up in her head. "If you believe in yourself you can do anything that you want, but if you don't believe in yourself you will always fail."

Ashley opened her eyes and saw the sun shining through the window. Daisy wasn't in the room, so she got up and headed down stairs. She could smell a very nice breakfast that wasn't familiar to her. She stepped over and watched as the girl poured batter onto the griddle. "What is that?"

"Pancakes. They are really yummy."

"I've decided I want to go on a journey as well. I'm tired of always being stuck at the shrine. There is nothing to do, and yet the world is so amazing and I am feeling left out. Everyone seems to be doing a lot more then me and I want to find things and be... well, I want to be able to go on an adventure and see outside of the borders. I've always only seen the shrine."

"I'm glad. There are quite a few options, but I'll tell Grandfather to try to find something that is cute and resilient as well." Daisy handed her a plate.


	6. Clothes Shopping

_Tsurishi Arashi – Could you guys do me a bit of a favor and vote on the poll I have up right now about which crossover I should do next. There is a four way tie for second place. Thanks! :D_

**Ashley Catchem  
****Chapter 6  
**_**(Clothes Shopping)**_

After breakfast, Ashley found herself dressed in clothes that were a bit to big for her from Daisy's own stash. They found themselves driving out to Viridian so that Ashley could purchase some clothes other then the ones she happened to have. She turned her head to look at Daisy. "Where exactly is the money coming from? I couldn't very well be taking money from you and your family."

Daisy let out a chuckle. "The money is from your mother."

"I've never met her." Ashley looked out the window. "She doesn't care about me, does she?"

"No... she had a deal with your mother that she would take one child while your grandmother took another, otherwise your grandmother would raise a stink. And of course, your grandmother wanted the female child, not the male child."

"What are you talking about?" The small female shook her head.

"Ash's last name is Catchem, the same as yours. You both have the same mother. You two are twins in fact."

"I don't like him. He was weird."

"Yes... he is a bit weird." The female paused, before shaking her head. "We'll stop by and see your grandmother before we go."

They arrived at the clothing store and the first place that Daisy headed was the swimwear. Ashley blinked a couple of times. "We're buying underwear? That underwear is kind of fancy."

"No, this is stuff you wear for swimming." Daisy held up a two piece. "How about this one, it is cute."

"Why would I need swim wear?" Ashley frowned.

"So you can swim while you're traveling."

"I don't know how to swim."

"There is a pool in Veridian. I'll take you there after we visit your grandmother."

"You wear this in public?" Ashley found herself suddenly blushing.

"Well, go and try this one on. There are no guys here right now." Daisy watched as the girl took off and headed into the dressing room. "No, yellow doesn't look good on you. Try this one." And then... "No, that bright green is horrid... try this one." Which eventually led to... "Cute!"

The bathing suit in question was a white bikini with pink tie died bottom and had tie tired thin straps which tied behind the neck and a big pink flower in the middle. "Why is swim wear so important for you?"

"Don't know. Every girl should have a good set of swim wear." Daisy then looked up. "Now onto dresses."

"I don't..." Ashley shook her head, realizing there was nothing stopping Daisy now that she had gotten started. They picked out a dress with a denim tank top and a pink floral colored skirt with a rose petal style bottom. They also picked out a red dress that was straight and had a flat strap across the top with a tie that went around the back of the neck.

They then got three blouses, one of which was a pale blue sleeveless with a tail, a red Hawaiian patterned one with puffy sleeves and a pastel pink one that had long sleeves. They got her a denim skirt, one with a peacock like pattern and then a nice gray one with a nice bow on front. They also got her a couple of pants, lots of socks, a pair of shoes and a pair of boots, along with a jacket and a rain slicker.

When they were done, Ashley found herself collapsing on a park bench and leaning her head back in frustration. "This is boring."

"Most girls would say otherwise. Don't you like your new clothes?"

"Yes... but you did all the shopping."

"Next time you won't have to. You saw how I picked stuff out, right?"

"True." The girl frowned. "So, do you know why my grandmother wanted to separate my mother and me? I mean, what did my mother do that was so wrong?"

"I think it has to do with the fact that your mother, who is supposed to be a pure shrine maiden happened to have a child out of wedlock." Daisy folded her arms. "None of... well, my parents stuck together through thick and thin and were married before they had any of us."

"You and Garry?"

"Yup."

"Do you have any idea who our father is?"

"Not a single clue really." Daisy folded her arms across her chest. "You would be surprised how much we know about your mother during her years traveling, but then she had apparently a good reason not to keep in touch."

"Why not?"

"Because your grandmother forbid her going on an adventure. That may very well be why she's tried to isolate you, so you won't go off on her."

"Yeah, but I still want to see the world and have my own Pokémon. So it isn't as if what she's done has helped her any. In fact, she's had a heart attack."

"Would you like some ice cream?" Daisy suddenly got up.

"What's that?" Ashley gave her a rather confused look.

"Well, I'll show you. I'll just say it is something you eat an that you'll enjoy." The older female eventually brought back an ice cream cone for each of them and handedone to Ashley.

The female blinked a couple of times before grabbing the cold treat and taking a taste. "It's good, it is really good."

"And just think, there are so many other things you missed out on. Being a trainer means you get an allowance from the league for purchasing Pokeballs, food and other stuff."

"What's a Pokeball?"

"It's what a Pokémon gets stored in." Daisy let out a laugh. "Think of it as another dimension that only the one Pokémon can come and go on. You'll be getting your first one in a couple of days. Grandfather says he has the perfect one for you."

"But is it too much hastle?"

"He's already having to find an extra one this year because there are four others who are getting Pokémon this year."


End file.
